Fish Age?

evilchild · Apr 8, 2008

i know this is a hard question but how long do fish live for? i know some of the bigger one likes osca's live for like 20 odd years. but what about the smaller fish like barbs and neons.

what is the oddest fish you have or had

geo7x · Apr 8, 2008

It varies alot, smaller fish like tetras will probably live for about 5 years, maybe a bit more, whereas plecs can live for 25 years+.

Colin_T · Apr 8, 2008

most small tetra species like neons and glolights will usually live for 2-3 yrs in a tank. If they are kept in warm water then they age faster and might die of old age at 1.5-2yrs if kept above 28C. The same fish can live for twice as long if kept in cooler water around 22C.
bigger species of Rainbowfish can live for 10yrs, smaller species 3-4yrs.
Barbs can live for 4-5yrs.
Angelfish and discus about 9-10yrs.
Corydoras can hit 8-10yrs. Lots of other catfish can live for 20+yrs.

Unfortunately most fish die from poor water quality well before they suffer from age related ailments.

Bignose · Apr 8, 2008

http

/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage..._Lifespans.html

Colin_T · Apr 8, 2008

Sorry bignose I have to disagree with that link to some degree.
It has banjo catfish in two age groups and recons pearl and kissing gouramis live the same length of time as dwarf gouramis. They grow much bigger than dwarfs and live a lot longer.
And I don't know of many small tetras that live for 5-10yrs, 5yrs maybe but not 10.

Bignose · Apr 9, 2008

Well, Colin, the list is hardly definitive, and I didn't write it so I can't vouch for it's accuracy. It is just the largest collection of fish ages I've ever seen on the 'net. If there is a better one that you know of, I'd love to see it (and I'll link to it whenever this question comes up ... and it comes up a fair amount).